Komunální je komunální a velká je velká! K hypotéze politizace lokálních politických elit
Municipal Is Municipal and Big Is Big! A Hypothesis about the Politicisation of Local Political Elites

Summary/Abstract: Sociologists studying the renewal of local government in post-communist Central European countries have formulated a hypothesis that local politics are becoming increasingly politicised. Political scientists focusing on local coalitions have provided a tool for examining this politicisation. This article is based on a secondary analysis of research to date on local political elites and compares their outcomes with the conclusions of the author’s recent study of a panel of municipalities that was previously studied by Czech researchers in the early 1990s. The structure of local representation, the attitudes of municipal representatives, and the structure of local coalitions have not fulfilled the expected increased politicisation. The most important determinant is still the size of a municipality. Nevertheless, its influence can be modified by other factors, for example, institutional variables. Detailed observations on the origins of local coalitions and how they change indicate the scope and limits of this method for analysing the behaviour of local political elites.

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